Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-12-16

numcnr or an our hopes, rs far as human
prospects could reach, he in Our own
hands
No wonder that we worked gladly and
checrfuly. scott climbed the pole with
even more than usual agility Some
worked at the taking in of all kinds of
combustiblcs, for we wished TO be well
provided for the bridge. Every stick and
piece of wood we could get hold Of was
soaking wet, but by breaking and whiting
they could be made to add to a flame, and
from the engine. which was kept full of
wood for the purpose, we could give
good start to fire We had only one
iron bar to drive out our spikes; Il bent
"cruw's foot would have been worth
more than its weight III gold; but we
hammered away with what we had, and
spike after spike was drawn. Here | saw
Andrews show real Impotence for the
/ first am not sure but | may say the
| only-timc. He had altered his dress,
/ throwing off the cape and hirh hat that
/ he wore while at stations, and had Il
| small cap on, which greatly changed bis
appearance. Ine nearing Ui the time
when his plans would all eliminate in
success seemed to thrill and inspire him.
/ lie snatchcd the iron bar ont Of the hands
IF the man who was welding it, and
though we had strong and practced
worlimen in our party had not
before seen the blows raincd down
with such precision and force. Some
say that he uttered an oath on this occa-
sion, but though standing by ! did not
hear him, the only words | did hear be-
inc directions about the work, given in
his mild tones, but with quite an en-
ph&t,c ring Of triumph in them. He
wanted that rail up in the fcwest number
Of seconds and then-the bridge There
were several using lever Of green wood,
1 ana trying to tear up the end Of u rail
from which the spikes had not yet been
drawn; but the lever bent too much and
fence rail was added and we lifted again.
At that instant, loud and clear from the
south, came the whistle of the engine in
pursuit! 1t was near by and running at
lightning speed. The roll Of thousand
thunders could not have startled us more.
What could we do? At the end where
we had been prying the rail it was bent,
but it was still too firmly fixed for us to
hOic to lift it or break it like the last.
But we did the best in our power; we
bent the loose end up still further and put
the fence rail carefully under it, with the
hope that it would compel the pursucrs
either to stop and adjust it or throw them
from the track and then piled into the
car and engine with a celebrity born Of
long practice, and with one Of its old
bounds that jcrked us from our fcct--tor
Brown and Knight threw the valve wide
open-the General bore u rapidly on.
I'll" Impotence of Andrews to reach the
bridge had not been diminished by the
appearance Of this new element in the
situation.
F,v ~ M ~ fnr t1,1
Their story had been swiftly told when
they reached Calhoun, and the engine and
tender Of the passenger car. with u re-eu-
furcement Of armed men, followed them
up the road. Fuller stood on the tcndts'
of his own train, which was in front. Gaz-
ing intently forward to see if there was
any dangerous obstacle or break in the
track, such aF they had already many
times encountered. Soon he bchcld us at
work with feelings which cannot be de
scrihed. Before getting near enough to
see our number. we had mounted and
sped away, and he saw with eXultatiOn
that we had not broken the track, and
that there seemed to be no obstruction.
With full speed he ran on till too close to
stop and then beheld what he believed. mt
first to be broken rail and gave himself
UP for lost; but it was on the inside of a
/
throws most of its weight on the outside,
when he ran on it the bent rail was only
straitened down, and they were safely
on the other side of this danger. The
next train, which followed almost immc-
diately after, did not notice the obStruc-
ton Mt all. There is scarcely a doubt
, that two minutes more, enabling us 10
finish getting a rail up at this point, would
have given the control of the day into our
hands, for there were no more trains on
The road either to delay us or to be turned
back after us But as it was, the Texas
pressed on after us without the slightest
loss of Roadway.
The coming of this train before the
track was torn up was by far the most Sc
: rous misfortune that we had yet cncoun-
2 tered. But might it not still be overcome
J The plan which first presented itself to the
= undismayed spirit of Andrews was to use
? two of our cars rs projectles and hurI
them back at the enemy. This was more
. in accordance with his genius which de
lighted in strategy Than the plain course
which most of the soldiers would have
l preferred: that is, straight out ard out
, fight with the pursuing train, Accord
70 iuLly our engine was rcYersed--COuld We
] have selected "A down grade the chance Of
2 | success would have been better, but We
r. were coming 50 near the bridge that W,
could not delay to choose-and when the
] speed in this way had been checked nnC
! the pursuing train was quite close Gne
E still going fast, we uncoupled and bounded
t ON again But the skilltul pursucrs wer,
not thus To be beaten. They saw wha
rhey were about, and checking their head
/ way when the car wys dropped, they elSC
. reversed. and coming up to it with moder
\ ate force coupled on, which was easier
because their tender was in front.
CHAPTER Y.